Welcome to Thorium Nova! Contributions of all kinds are welcome. While this repository mostly includes code contributions, there are many other ways community members can contribute. Contributions may include:
- Joining and participating in the the Discord Community
- Requesting features and reporting bugs
- Conducting design or user research
- Contributing code
- Creating art or assets
- Writing documentation
- Working with others.
Before contributing, make sure you read the project README.md and agree to abide by the Code of Conduct.
The best way to get started with contributing is to ask! The Thorium Discord Server is the best place to learn what is happening and to ask where you can contribute.
A lot of discussion about Thorium Nova development happens on the Discord Server. This is a great place to ask questions, find ways to help, provide feedback, make suggestions, and comment on other proposals.
You're also welcome to comment on Github issues and discussion topics. Add comments saying that you are in favor of or against proposals, give suggestions, or make your own proposals. Proposals can be anything from suggesting a feature enhancement to changing the course of the entire project. The project is entirely community run, which means you can have a say in what happens with the project.
One thing to remember, though, is not all ideas will make it into the finished product. Remember, we're trying to make a great game for our all of users, and not every feature idea accomplishes that goal. If your idea is rejected, don't be discouraged! Try to modify your idea based on the feedback you got, suggest new ideas, or contribute in other ways. Even rejected ideas are good contributions, because they help us know better what users want and serve as a record of possible things we could work on in the future.
If you want to discuss a large-scale feature, or have a question about some aspect of development, start a new discussion topic on Github. We use discussions to plan out larger features before breaking them into issues to start development.
For smaller features or bug reports, feel free to file an issue on Github. If there is something you want done, file an issue! Use the issue templates to make sure you provide all the right information. Just be sure to search for any duplicates before filing your issue.
If there is an existing issue that you want to learn more about or have suggestions about, add a comment to the issue on Github with your questions or thoughts.
Check out the roadmap to know what features are coming, what we are working on, and what we have recently completed.
Updating and maintaining technical documentation is a great way to contribute!
The project has many .md files that explain how certain parts of the project
work. If you find any of these are confusing, incomplete, or out of date, file
an issue or submit a pull request!
A handful of issues are labeled Help Wanted and are a good place to start. You can also check the roadmap for tasks that are planned, but not yet assigned to anyone.
There are also issue labels for different kinds of contribution. Here are links to those:
There are also several other projects that are outside of the core Thorium Nova project which people can assist with. They include development of thoriumsim.com, working on the issue tracker, building the plugin store, creating an automated Discord bot, etc. Reach out on Discord in the #development channel if you are interested in working on any of these projects.
Any work should have a corresponding issue. Don't start working on an issue until you've been assigned to that issue, so we don't get duplicate work. If there is something you want to work on, add a comment and you'll be assigned.
One of the most valuable but nebulous contributions is designing how Thorium Nova's features will work. This includes both the conceptual design for how features fit together in the broader simulation, and user experience design for how users will interact with those features. I don't know of many projects that ask volunteer contributors to do user research, so there isn't a lot of prior art to go on here. You'll need to be self-directed if you take on any Design issues.
Some issues might have designers reach out to potential users of Thorium Nova to conduct research on how features should work. Designers will work with writers to figure out how the lore of the universe, including sci-fi technologies, equate to the crew controls. Of course, these interviews and feedback need to be recorded somehow (video or written text) so others can take advantage of the results. These results should be uploaded to Google Drive and announced on Discord in the #design channel.
Designers might also be asked to create mockups or wireframes of screens to get feedback from users about how that screen works. Those designs can also be used by developers as they work on implementing those screens.
Thorium Nova is built using TypeScript, React, Node.js, and git. Before contributing code, make sure you are familiar with these technologies.
Git is what we use to organize and share the code for Thorium Nova. If you've never used git before, check out this guide for absolute beginners.
I recommend using Volta to manage your Node and NPM versions, since it will automatically install the correct version when you work on Thorium Nova. I also recommend using the VS Code editor. Thorium Nova will automatically recommend extensions for VS Code that will help you during development.
You'll first need to get a copy of Thorium Nova's codebase from Github. You can do that by running this command after installing git:
git clone https://github.com/Thorium-Sim/thorium-nova.gitOnce the project has been cloned, you can install dependencies using NPM and start the project.
npm install
npm run devThis will automatically start the client and development servers and open up the UI in your web browser. If it doesn't automatically open, you can open it yourself by going to http://localhost:3000.
You can then make changes. However, you won't be able to push code to the Thorium Nova repo without being given contributor rights. Send a message on Discord with your Github username to request access. You are also welcome to follow a fork and pull process if that's what you'd prefer.
Once you have contribution access, you will also have the ability to merge your
own pull request, once it has been reviewed. This also means you can push
directly to the develop branch. Please don't do this unless you need to. 😁
Also note that only Core Team members have the ability to push code to main
and trigger a release.
Check the ARCHITECTURE.md document for more details on the project structure, development tools, and development practice.
Whenever you work on any kind of feature, enhancement, or bug report, always
start by checking out the develop branch, pulling the latest changes, creating
a new branch for your work, and installing any new dependencies.
git checkout develop
git pull
git checkout -b :your branch name:
npm installFrom there, you can start making your changes, committing as you go and opening a pull request when you are ready for your code to be reviewed. Remember, you can have your code reviewed before you finish your feature. It is strongly encouraged for you to open a pull request as soon as you make your first commit, mark it as a "draft" pull request in Github, and ask for feedback on what you are doing.
Before pushing your code to Github, make sure your passes our basic quality
checks by running npm validate. This will run automated tests, lint your code
with ESLint, run TypeScript's type checker, and format your code using Prettier.
Consider creating a feature branch and opening a draft pull request before you even start working on the task. That makes it possible for you to get code reviews and advice as you are working on the feature. Also, try to keep your pull requests small - this makes it easier for reviewers to review your code in a timely manner.
When writing your pull request description, make sure you include a reference to
the issue you are working on. If you intend to open more pull requests after
this one is merged, you can reference it by saying Refs #123. If this pull
requests finishes work on the issue, you can write Closes #123.
While not every pull request needs to meet all of these criteria, keep these things in mind as you work on it. Feel free to explain any exceptions in the pull request description.
- Does my pull request reference an existing issue that I am assigned to?
- Is my pull request small enough to be quickly reviewed? Does it include more than one feature or bug fix? If so, it should likely be split.
- Have I assigned the appropriate reviewers to my pull request? This might include a code reviewer, a designer, or a writer, depending on the pull request.
- Does my code follow similar practices that are used elsewhere in the project? Is there any aspect of it that might be challenging for someone new to work on in the future?
- Does my code add new dependencies? Be sure to explain what and why in the pull request description.
- Does my pull request include UI changes? If so, does it include screenshots or videos demonstrating the change?
- Does my pull request add new features that need to be documented in the built-in documentation? Is that documentation included in the pull request?
- Is my pull request sufficiently covered by automated tests? This is especially important for bug fix pull requests.
Once your pull request is reviewed and any feedback is addressed, it is ready to merge. You can merge your own pull request once it has been given approval and you have commit access. If your pull request isn't being reviewed in a timely manner, feel free to ask for a review on Discord.
Thorium Nova uses a
git flow model for
branching and managing releases. The main code branch is develop. Any time you
want to make a change to Thorium Nova, create a branch from develop, make your
changes, and create a pull request back to develop. After review, your branch
will be merged in using a "Squash and Merge" strategy.
Thorium Nova uses semantic versioning, which means bug-only releases are a patch (0.0.X) release, feature releases are a minor (0.X.0) release, and breaking changes are a major (X.0.0) release. Most people assume a major release means exciting new features; however, major changes actually mean the developers made a mistake with the way they originally designed the program, and fixing that mistake means breaking the way people use old versions.
Thorium Nova also uses conventional commit messages to generate a changelog for each new version. While it's recommended you use a conventional commit message as your pull request name, it's not required. If you don't, a conventional commit message will be added when your pull request is merged.
Periodically, the code in develop is merged into main. Any time code is
merged into main, a new version is released automatically.
Creating robust starship simulator controls requires the creation of a lot of
art and other assets. As people work on Thorium Nova, they can request assets by
filing an issue with the
asset label. Asset issues should include any referenced issue numbers, what
kind of asset is being requested, and a detailed description of what the asset
deliverable should be.
Requesting assignment to an asset issue works the same as with code issues. Once assigned, the asset creator should work with the person who opened the issue to figure out the best way of delivering the asset. Once the asset is delivered, the issue can be closed.
This will require that anyone interested in working on issues create a Github account. They're free, and will give you the ability to contribute to discussions in the Thorium Nova repo. Also, discussion about art or assets of any kind can happen in the #art channel on Discord.
There is a lot of writing that goes into Thorium Nova. This includes the in-app documentation for users, on-screen tutorials for players, and eventually story and mission writing. Discussion about writing and documentation happens on the #documentation channel on Discord.
Writers might also be invited to write pieces for the regular Thorium email newsletter and Thorium blog.
When it thinking about making contributions. it might be tempting to work on a single task entirely on your own. Your efforts will go further if you include other contributors with different skills. For example, if you are hoping to produce a new screen, you might work with:
- A designer, to perform user research and create a mockup
- A developer, to write the code
- An artist, to create the icons and graphics needed
- A writer, to produce the in-game tutorial and documentation page for the screen
- A sound effects creator, to generate the necessary sounds for the screen
All of these elements could be integrated as part of the same pull request, or split across pull requests.
Of course, if you do want to try your hand at a cross-discipline contribution, feel free. But also consider inviting others to help as you work on a task.
Thorium Nova is an open source project, and as such has a limited budget. Anyone contributing to the project should assume that there will be no monetary compensation for their contributions.
Eventually, when merchandise and swag becomes available, contributors could receive items as a thank you for their contributions. If Thorium Nova becomes commercially successful, there will be a discussion of how to fairly share profit among Thorium Nova contributors.
Thorium Nova now collects donations through a service called Open Collective. This allows the project to continue to receive community donations without needing to worry about a privately held company controlling the funds. Instead, anyone can propose a use for funds, and Core Team members can vote on that proposal and dispense the funds. See the governance document for more information.